I would hate for my previous post about the cross dressing habits of Devendra Banhart to give the wrong impression. Having spent a week and a half with his new album (Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon) it’s obvious that his flamboyant clothing and make up is not distracting him from making great music.
Like Cripple Crow the album could do with some editing, at 70+ minutes it’s about 15 minutes too long. I am already skipping the cheesiest track (Shabop Shalom) with spoken lyrics like the “fire in the deep end of my heart giving me the heebie-jeebies” and “I have watched you cakewalk to the immaculate conception for far too long“. According to a recent interview in The Observer Music Monthly , this is about a Jamaican boy who falls for a Rabbi’s daughter and it’s clearly played for laughs to lighten the mood. I much prefer him when he assumes a more refelective tone as he does with the breathtakingly beautiful three tracks which close the album. These play to his strengths, managing to sound both melancholy yet hopeful.
On first hearing, I wasn’t sure about the album but it’s growing on me and it shows that the man has depth and soul.
Check out great photos of Devendra by Lauren Dukoff.
